Karlsson gets his 30th goal as Knights beat Edmonton
Reaching the 30-goal plateau is a noteworthy feat in today’s NHL, where goals are harder to come by.
But William Karlsson is going to have to do a little more to impress Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant.
“He better have 40 when it’s all said and done,” Gallant said with a smile.
Karlsson notched his Western Conference-leading 30th goal, and Marc-Andre Fleury made 28 saves, as the Knights defeated Edmonton 4-1 on Thursday at T-Mobile Arena to become the first team in the Western Conference to reach 80 points.
“They took it to us this year, so that was definitely in the back of our mind,” Knights forward Ryan Carpenter said. “It would have been nice to help (Fleury) out and not give up that goal, but it’s a good, complete 60-minute game for us.”
Carpenter, Jonathan Marchessault and Erik Haula also scored, and David Perron had two assists for the Knights (38-15-4), who improved to 14-1-1 against the Pacific Division and defeated the Oilers for the first time in three meetings.
“Everyone’s chipping in,” Karlsson said. “It’s good to see Carpenter scoring back to back. He’s been really hot lately. And my line scored (two) as well. That’s how you win games, everyone chipping in. That’s when we’re tough to beat.”
The Knights sent Edmonton (23-29-4) to its fifth straight loss and finally contained Connor McDavid after the Oilers’ star had five points (two goals, three assists) in the first two meetings.
McDavid managed two shots on goal and took a penalty in the second period that led to Karlsson’s power-play goal.
“I didn’t think he had the puck as much in the neutral zone with his speed and his attack,” Gallant said. “He’s still a dangerous player. He had two or three real good rushes that he made great plays on they didn’t finish. We got in control of the game by scoring that first goal. … Again, we didn’t play a great game, I thought, but we were good enough to win.”
The Knights were 0-for-10 on the power play against Edmonton in the first two games, but Karlsson broke through on the man advantage at 12:47 of the second period.
Moments after Fleury made a sliding save to deny Michael Cammalleri on a 2-on-1, Karlsson drove around Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse and beat Cam Talbot from in tight for a 3-0 lead.
It was Karlsson’s 50th point of the season and the 100th of his career.
“It’s pretty good. Like I said, I didn’t think I’d be here scoring that many goals before the season,” Karlsson said. “But here I am, and I just want to continue doing that.”
Marchessault put the Knights ahead 2-0 when he got position in front of the net against Patrick Maroon and tipped in Nate Schmidt’s wrist shot from the point for his 21st goal and team-high 55th point.
The Knights’ fourth line was rewarded for its energetic play with 6:56 remaining in the first period, as Carpenter continued his hot streak.
Defenseman Deryk Engelland hopped on a loose puck in the slot, and his backhander was turned away by Talbot. But Carpenter was there to put in the rebound for his fourth goal in the past six games.
“(Pierre-Edouard Bellemare) and (Tomas) Nosek are really good players,” Carpenter said. “If I didn’t score tonight, it could have easily been one of them. We just try to be around the net and possess the puck and have a big, heavy game below the circles. Hopefully we can keep it going.”
Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.
